TELLER, HENRY (1830-1914)

Henry Moore Teller represented Colorado in
the U.S. Senate from 1876, when Colorado
joined the Union, to 1909, with a three-year
interlude as interior secretary. Colorado's first
nationally prominent political figure, Teller
was influential in state and national affairs.
The senator was widely respected and known
as the "defender of the West" and, affectionately,
as "Colorado's Grand Old Man."

Born on May 23, 1830, as one of eight children
in a strict Methodist farm family in upper
New York, Teller educated himself in the law.
He practiced briefly in Morrison, Illinois, then
moved to the booming mining territory west
of Denver in 1861. There he practiced mining
law and participated in mining and railroad
businesses. Teller was active in Colorado's Republican
politics as leader of the Golden area
faction in the protracted intraparty rivalry
between the "Denver ring" and the "Golden
gang." Throughout his political career he was a
spokesperson for the commoner, including
miners and homesteaders. He spoke forcefully
for western territories and interests and was
tenacious in his battles for silver coinage and
against the eastern establishment, its banks,
and the gold standard. In the U.S. Senate he
sponsored the "Teller amendment" pledging
U.S. support for Cuban independence.

Senator Teller was a staunch Republican
most of his political life, but his relentless crusade
for silver interests, along with his populist
sentiments, devotion to states' rights, and opposition
to imperialism, eventually and inevitably
led him to bolt the party. Upon leaving
the Republicans in 1896, he organized the Silver
Republican Party, worked cooperatively
with Populists and Democrats, and received
support for the presidential nomination of all
three parties. Teller declined and instead supported
Democratic presidential nominee William
Jennings Bryan. Henry Moore Teller died
in Denver on February 23, 1914.